Study Questions
1. What does Holden do when he reaches Penn Station?

2. What does Holden discuss with the cab driver on the way to the Edmont Hotel?

3. What is Holden’s opinion of the Edmont Hotel?

4. How does Holden describe the bellman at the Edmont Hotel?

5. How does Holden feel about “necking” with girls whom he does not really care about?

6. What type of rules does Holden have difficulty observing?

7. What excuse has Holden planned to use in order to get through to Jane Gallagher on the telephone after-hours?

8. Why does Holden not call Jane Gallagher?

9. From whom did Holden get Faith Cavendish’s name?

10. How does Holden feel after Faith Cavendish refuses to meet him for a cocktail?

Answers
1. Holden goes to a phone booth and considers calling D.B., Phoebe, Jane Gallagher’s mother, Sally Hayes, and Carl Luce. He comes up with reasons for not calling any of them. In the end, he calls no one.

2. Holden asks the cab driver whether he knows what happens to the ducks in the Central Park lagoon when the pond freezes over.

3. Holden thinks the Edmont Hotel is “lousy with perverts.” He thinks Stradlater would have fit right in.

4. Holden says the bellman looks to be about 65. He is even more depressing than the room—having to carry people’s suitcases and wait around for a tip.

5. Holden feels that he should not “neck” or have sex with a girl unless he really cares about her. He, however, does admit to having trouble living up to his principles.

6. Holden makes up “these sex rules” for himself. He says that he then breaks them right away. Sex is something, he says, he just does not understand.

7. Holden is going to say that he is Jane’s uncle and that her aunt has just been killed in a car accident.

8. Holden does not call Jane Gallagher because he says he is not in the mood (an excuse he has used before).

9. Holden obtained Faith’s name and telephone number from Eddie Birdsell, a student at Princeton, whom Holden met at a party.

10. Holden regrets that he did not make a date to see Faith the next day.